Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has appointed his former Chief of Staff James Usmier as the new Attorney General of the state known for his conservative stance, previously serving as DeSantis general counsel and COVID. -19 Plays an important role in mandate and legal battles and education policy. Uthmeier’s immediate tasks include participation in the newly established state immigration executive committee established by recent law.
Gov. Ron DeSantis officially appointed his former Chief of Staff James Usmierer as the next Florida Attorney General on Monday.
Uthmeier, 37, was sworn in at a ceremony at the old Capitol in Tallahassee. DeSantis called him the “Bulldog” and was able to take on the famous political battles during his tenure as the top staff member of the governor’s office.
“All of our administration, James was always digging in and fighting for the right thing, even if it wasn’t easy,” DeSantis said.
Before becoming Chief of Staff, Uthmeier served as Desantis general adviser as the state challenged federal mandate on masks and other Covid-19 era rules.
DeSantis also praised Usmeyer’s efforts to combat critical Race Theory (CRT) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in higher education, legalizing last year’s recreational marijuana and abortion. He praised his push for amending votes last year to ease restrictions.
In his remarks, Uthmeier promised to “define America’s first agenda,” fight drug cartels and fight “activists.”
“We don’t stand absent-minded while the left tries to infiltrate our institutions and use the court system to instruct children,” Usmeyer said. “We fight against activists who try to undermine officially enacted laws, challenge constitutional order and try to injure the unborn baby.”
The Attorney General was open as Desantis appointed Sen. Ashley Moody Us last month to replace Marco Rubio, who became US Secretary of State for President Donald Trump.
Desantis said he intended to put Uthmeier at a cabinet level position, but wanted to wait until he completed his fight with Congress over a new bill that would crack down on illegal immigration.
After an initial pushback from the GOP legislative leader, the side reached a compromise, and Desantis signed the bill last week. Attorney General John Gard has been attorney general since Moody left.
Jason Wyda, former secretary of the Healthcare Administration, took over Usmeyer’s position as DeSantis’s Chief of Staff.
Uthmeier is a graduate of the University of Florida and Georgetown Law School. More than 100 GOP officials and staff were present at the ceremony. They handled the sounds of UF marching bands on their way to the old Capitol, eliciting “noles” responses from some participants.
He worked for the Jonesday Law Firm in Washington, DC, but later worked as a senior adviser to the US Department of Commerce during the first Trump administration.
His first act in his new role will soon come. He was poised to join DeSantis and other Cabinet members as the newly created state immigration executive committee at a meeting held in Niceville late Monday afternoon. The board was created by the new immigration law.
Gray Rohrer is a reporter for the USA Today Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be contacted at grohrer@gannett.com. X: Follow him on @grayrohrer.
